It is known in the art to place telephone calls around the world using conventional public switched telephone network systems. FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified diagram of how a call, such as a long distance call, is handled. A first caller uses a telephone 100 and makes a call that is routed though a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 110 to another phone 105 anywhere in the world. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 2, a mobile phone user may use a mobile phone 200 to make a call that is first routed to a mobile phone network 205 and then to a PSTN 210 where it can then be routed to a telecommunications device 215 located any place around the world, such as a telephone 220 located in another country.
Operators of PSTNs charge callers for the routing of phone calls. Though the exact amounts of the charges vary depending on market circumstances, it is almost universally true that the further away the call is going (i.e., long distance calls), the greater the cost to the user. This is particularly true when calls cross political boundaries, such as borders between countries, as well as physical boundaries, such as oceans.
Vendors currently offer products that permit telecommunications to be carried via a VDN such as the Internet. For example, Vonage is a company that uses the Cisco ATA unit. Features that allow mobile telephone usage over the Internet cannot offer this calling activity with this unit. The Cisco ATA unit is broadband only and does not provide a means to attach to a phone jack in the wall. Without attachment to the wall, the Vonage-Cisco unit cannot detect incoming PSTN calls. Without the ability to detect incoming PSTN calls, the Vonage-Cisco unit cannot then bridge PSTN callers into the Vonage voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.
Packet 8 sells an Internet access device (IAD) (called DTA310) that is broadband only. The DTA310 provides a single RJ-11 connection for an analog phone. The DTA310 does not provide a means to attach the unit to a phone jack in the wall. Without attachment to the wall, the Packet 8 unit cannot detect incoming PSTN calls; without the ability to detect incoming PSTN calls, the Packet 8 unit cannot then bridge PSTN callers into the Packet 8 VoIP network.
Net2Phone sells a line of IAD units supporting both broadband and narrowband dialup. One unit provides a 2-port gateway that includes means to connect directly to a phone jack in the wall. It is unknown if the hardware architecture of the Net2Phone unit supports the ability to bridge a mobile caller into their VoIP network. However, firmware does not appear to be available for the current IAD units to make VoIP calling from non-VoIP telephones a reality.
What would be useful are a system and method for routing calls originating from the PSTN and mobile telephone networks to VDN thereby permitting telephone users to take advantage of the Internet as a telecommunication network for the placing of long distance telephone calls.